Thread: Fact Check: Republican Primaries

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Fact Check: Republican Primaries
Mitt's Misleading Mailer, Giuliani's Crime Stats, Other Reigns of Error

Fact Check: Republican Primaries

New Hampshire voters have started receiving this mailing from the Mitt Romney for President campaign that assails his opponents on the issue of illegal immigration.
The mailer alleges that Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani "support amnesty" for illegal immigrants.
The accusation makes for an eye-catching piece of political propaganda.
However, an ABC News fact check reveals that many of the claims in the mailer are simply not true.




Romney Fact Check
None of the Republicans mentioned support "amnesty" -- which is allowing illegal immigrants to become citizens without a penalty or arduous process.

That has become a popular claim among opponents of the immigration reform bill that McCain brokered with Democrats, which is supported by President Bush, but the allegation's constant repetition does not make it true.

Maybe opponents do not think the barriers to citizenship are high enough, or the penalties for illegally entering the country harsh enough, but the bill does not constitute "amnesty."


The charge is all the more interesting coming from Romney, who in November 2005 told the Boston Globe that a different immigration reform proposal by McCain was "quite different" since that 2005 effort -- which was arguably more liberal than the 2006 version -- required illegal immigrants to work for years, pay taxes, not take government benefits, pay a fine and register with the government.

"That's very different than amnesty, where you literally say, 'OK, everybody here gets to stay,'" Romney told the Globe two years ago. "It's saying you could work your way into becoming a legal resident of the country by working here without taking benefits and then applying and then paying a fine."

Romney's campaign based their claim about Thompson on a partial quote he gave to Fox News, outlining three possible options he supports to solve the immigration problem.

"You're going to have to, in some way, work out a deal where they can have some aspirations of citizenship," Thompson said on Fox News' "Hannity & Colmes" in April 2006.

And that's where Romney stopped quoting. But here's the rest of what Thompson said: "... but not make it so easy that it's unfair to the people waiting in line and abiding by the law."

Political watchers say campaigns often put misleading or inaccurate information in mailers, because they don't get the attention TV ads do.

"The campaigns have thought direct mail is under the radar, that it doesn't get the scrutiny that the TV ads so," said Bill Adair, Politifact.com editor.


Giuliani Fact Check

Romney's not the only candidate to put out less than truthful information about a rival. In November, Giuliani assailed Romney's record as governor of Massachusetts

"He had a very, very poor record dealing with crime," Giuliani told New Hampshire voters.

In an interview with The Associated Press, he elaborated: "While he was governor, violent crime went up in Massachusetts."

The only problem with that claim? It's not true.

While individual violent crimes such as murder increased during Romney's time as governor, from 2003 until January 2007, according to the same FBI crime statistics Giuliani was using, the number of incidents in the category of "violent crimes" went down from 30,377 in 2003 to 28,701 in 2006.

Huckabee Fact Check
As a front-runner with moderate views on social issues, Giuliani is often a target of attacks.

Earlier this year, Romney told the Christian Broadcasting Network that Giuliani supports gay marriage. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee repeated the claim on MSNBC's "Hardball" last month. "Rudy and I don't agree on the Second Amendment, sanctity of life and same-sex marriage, but at least you know where he's coming from," Huckabee said.

Giuliani has supported civil unions, but he has consistently opposed same-sex marriage. Romney apologized for his false claim. Huckabee has not.

As former President John Adams once said, facts are stubborn things -- though politicians can be, too.

Ironically, this piece did not go through a fact-checker.

None of the Republicans mentioned support "amnesty" -- which is allowing illegal immigrants to become citizens without a penalty or arduous process.

Note to self: ABC "News" sucks at fact-checking.

When push comes to shove, I'm convinced each and every one of the candidates mentioned above will set illegals on a path to citizenship. They may not call it amnesty, but that is exactly what it will be! We only have two candidates that have consistently said all illegal aliens must go home. More importantly, their voting history on illegal immigration and border security reflects their stated position.